Feature Articles

The Spider AM3 Makeover

The Spider AM3 Makeover

Launched initially along with the original AMD Phenom as part of the Spider platform, AMD's enthusiast chipset, the 790FX remains the only one capable of supporting quad CrossFireX configurations. Yet its standing among enthusiasts has diminished due to the arrival of the AMD 790GX chipset, which besides the integrated graphics, supports the more typical dual CrossFireX setup and includes the newer SB750 Southbridge with SATA ports. More importantly, it has Advanced Clock Calibration, the secret sauce that was exclusive to the 790GX and meant to help improve the overclocking limits on the Phenom.

To add to this perception that the 790FX is old news, AMD recently came out with the Dragon platform for the Phenom II launch and this time, there was no place for the 790FX, with the 790GX now replacing it as the 'official' chipset in its marketing efforts. Of course, the reason for choosing the 790GX could be due to the value performance and mainstream segment that AMD is targeting with the Phenom II, which made the 790GX a better fit. Nevertheless, it appears to marginalize the 790FX further as a niche enthusiast chipset that's edging inevitably towards its expiry date.

These doubts however have been cleared with the latest iteration of the 790FX that we are seeing from motherboard vendors recently. Updated to support AMD's AM3 compatible Phenom II processors, these new 790FX chipsets can handle the latest DDR3 memory. Paired with a SB750 Southbridge, these AM3 790FX chipsets have gained parity with the 790GX in offering the latest in AMD chipset technology and edging it out in terms of raw performance features (especially with 32 PCIe lanes dedicated to graphics cards). In short, the 790FX is back to being top of the chipset game.

If you need a refresher on what made up the original 790FX chipset, please refer to our previous articles in the related links below. We will be assuming that you know the basics regarding this chipset.

While the initial AM3 790FX motherboard models from vendors have been relatively slow to appear, we have managed to snag three models from well-known brands ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI for an AM3 shootout. Their specifications for these boards are listed below:-